Suspected leader in Pocono drug ring in rehab, prelim moved

Charged as a ringleader in an operation that illegally trafficked prescription painkillers in the Poconos, a Tannersville man had his district court preliminary hearing moved from Tuesday to a future date.

Comment

By ANDREW SCOTT

poconorecord.com

By ANDREW SCOTT

Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By ANDREW SCOTT

Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Charged as a ringleader in an operation that illegally trafficked prescription painkillers in the Poconos, a Tannersville man had his district court preliminary hearing moved from Tuesday to a future date.

Bryn Stevenson was scheduled to spend part of his 30th birthday Tuesday at a scheduled preliminary hearing before East Stroudsburg Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth, but was in drug rehabilitation instead, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. A preliminary hearing determines if there's enough evidence to send the case to Monroe County Court, where the defendant can then go to trial, plead guilty or plead no contest.

Twelve other defendants charged likewise had their preliminary hearings continued to a future date.

Another ringleader charged, John Romagnolo, 44, of Cresco, and other defendants will appear for future scheduled preliminary hearings before Mountainhome Magisterial District Judge John Whitesell.

Authorities said Stevenson and Romagnolo led two separate, competing rings trafficking Oxycodone and other prescription painkillers. Both rings, together allegedly responsible for the distribution of $2.1 million worth of prescription painkillers in Pennsylvania, were broken up by agents from the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, federal officials and local police.

The two rings were supplied by a New York City doctor's office manager and her husband. They, too, have been charged along with the doctor himself, who authorities said ran his own separate illegal script drug operation in New York and New Jersey.

All told, a total of $10 million worth of scrips were trafficked across several states, authorities said. About 50 people were arrested, the majority being from Monroe County and a handful from Northampton and Luzerne counties.